# What about the people in other occupations who die at work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 31, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-people-in-other-occupations-who-die-at-work/491387 "2009-03-31T02:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tixenfleaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Tixenfleaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tixenfleaz)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-people-in-other-occupations-who-die-at-work/491387/61 "2009-04-09T19:42:25Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > When a worker gets killed, the local community will usually gather around the family for a while, but when a cop dies, the support to the family is, or can be, lifelong. I am curious as to whether this lifelong support actually exists. A few years ago I knew a young lady whose father was shot to death while working as a State Trooper (in the Carolina’s IIRC). She told me that the second worst thing about it was the fact that it basically reduced her family to poverty. I didn’t know her very well, but I have no reason to doubt her. I’m sure it varies from state to state, but do the families of slain cops and firefighters really get much more than an insurance payout and a nice funeral for their loved one? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-people-in-other-occupations-who-die-at-work/491387/62 "2009-04-10T14:20:49Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Well while you’re at it, why not some guy in an insurance company who has a heart attack at work? Or a truck driver who is killed in a car accident? > > Cops and firemen are generally killed doing something heroic - fighting crime or running into a burning building to save someone. Lumberjacks die because someone wasn’t watching what they were doing. I don’t know if that’s necessarily true. Not only that, but one of the reasons they die is because when an accident does happen, the nearest medical help is a long ways away in both distance and time. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-people-in-other-occupations-who-die-at-work/491387/63 "2009-04-10T14:31:56Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Not if you’re raping the environment. And no, there’s nothing especially virtuous about working for material gain. There’s certainly nothing heroic about dying for it. Raping the environment? As has already been pointed out, this would be a mighty different world to live in without wood and tree byproducts. Not only that but according to [this site](http://forestry.about.com/library/bl_us_forest_acre_trend.htm): > [@](#): > > The forest resources of the U.S. have continued improving in general condition and quality, as measured by increased average size and volume of trees. This trend has been evident since the 1960s and before. **The total forestland acreage has remained stable since 1900.** (bolding mine) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-people-in-other-occupations-who-die-at-work/491387/64 "2009-04-10T17:25:27Z")
> [@Tixenfleaz](#): > > I am curious as to whether this lifelong support actually exists. A few years ago I knew a young lady whose father was shot to death while working as a State Trooper (in the Carolina’s IIRC). She told me that the second worst thing about it was the fact that it basically reduced her family to poverty. I didn’t know her very well, but I have no reason to doubt her. > > I’m sure it varies from state to state, but do the families of slain cops and firefighters really get much more than an insurance payout and a nice funeral for their loved one? I do know about one family from back east who moved out to Bakersfield after the dad, a cop, was killed. The local police community took her under their wing and helped the family get on their feet. And this was some years after his death. She eventually married another cop. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-people-in-other-occupations-who-die-at-work/491387/65 "2009-04-10T17:30:21Z")
Does the police or firefighter community gather around the family of a woman police officer killed on the job? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-about-the-people-in-other-occupations-who-die-at-work/491387.md?page=3)